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  The Troublesome Tiles

  Once the Space Shuttle was successfully in orbit, many astronauts back on the ground now believed, perhaps with a high degree of confidence for the first time, that they and the Space Shuttle had a future. The first task for Young and Crippen was to open the payload bay doors.

  Crippen: I opened up the first door, and at that time I saw, back on the orbital maneuvering system’s pods that hold those engines, that there were some squares back there where obviously the tiles were gone. They were dark instead of being white. So I went ahead and completed opening the doors, and when we got ground contact we told the ground: “Hey, there’s some tiles missing back there,” and we gave them some TV views of the tiles that were missing. Personally, that didn’t cause me any great concern, because I knew that all the critical tiles were the ones primarily on the bottom. But, of course, the big question on the ground was, well, if some of those are missing, are there some on the bottom missing? So I know there was a lot of consternation going on on the ground about, hey, are the tiles really there. But there wasn’t much that we could do about it if they were gone, so I personally didn’t worry about it, and I don’t think John worried about it.

  We did our de-orbit burn on the dark side of the Earth and started falling into the Earth’s atmosphere. It was still dark when we started to pick up outside the window; it turned this pretty color of pink. It wasn’t a big fiery kind of a thing like they had—with the Apollo Command Modules and those kinds of things, they used the ablative heat shield. It was just a bunch of little angry ions out there that were proving that it was kind of warm outside, on the order of 3000 °F out the front window. But it was pretty. I’ve often likened it—it was kind of like you were flying down a neon tube, about that color of pink that you might see in a neon tube.

  The autopilot was on. It was going through the S-turns. John was somewhat concerned on that first flight that when we got down deeper into the atmosphere, whether those S-turns were going to work right. He ended up taking over control at around Mach 7. I deployed the air data probes around Mach 5, and we started to pick up air data. We started to pick up TACANS (Tactical Air Control and Navigation System) to use to update our navigation system. And we could see the coast of California. We came in over the San Joaquin Valley, which I’d flown over many times, and I could see Tehachapi, which is the little pass between San Joaquin and the Mojave Desert. You could see Edwards, and you could look out and see Three Sisters, which are three dry lakebeds out there. It was just like I was coming home. I’d been there lots of times. I did remark over the radio: “What a way to come to California.”

  The Sole Flight of the Russian Shuttle

  The first shuttle mission was judged a success, and preparations were in hand for the second flight of Columbia—the first time a spacecraft had ever been reused—in six months’ time. The success had not been lost on the Soviets, who noted the intention to launch Space Shuttles from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California from where they could go into polar orbit and overfly every square inch of Soviet territory, carrying weapons in their payload bay. The Soviets decided they needed a space shuttle as well. In fact, they decided to copy the US one. The Soviet space shuttle flew once, on an unpiloted mission in 1988, orbiting the Earth twice and making a perfect landing. The project was canceled shortly afterward.

  The Soviet space shuttle on display at the 38th Paris International Air and Space Show in 1989.

  In the meantime the Soviets had launched a seven-day mission to the Salyut 6 space station by two cosmonauts, Leonid Popov and Dumitru Prunariu of the Romanian air force. It was to be the last standard flight of the Soyuz spacecraft, which was to be replaced by the more capable Soyuz-T series. In reality, however, the Soyuz spacecraft, then and now the cornerstone of their manned spaceflight effort, had been undergoing a continuous evolution since its introduction. The Soyuz-T variant had a revised rendezvous system, uprated solar panels and allowed its crew of three to all wear spacesuits, something which had not been possible before.

  Columbia returned to space on November 12, 1981, commanded by Joe Engle with Richard Truly as pilot. Unknown to the media or the public, it was to shock many astronauts and engineers.

  TIMELINE

  1981 20 February Space Shuttle Columbia fires its three engines in a 20-second test, clearing the final major hurdle to its maiden launch

  10 April Maiden launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia is scrubbed because of a computer malfunction

  12 April Space Shuttle Columbia launched, carrying astronauts Robert L. Crippen and John W. Young

  14 April Columbia lands at Edwards Air Force Base, California, completing the first flight of America’s operational Space Shuttle

  14 May Russian Soyuz 40 mission to Salyut 6 space station marks the last flight of Soyuz spacecraft

  “It marks our entrance into a new era”

  LAUNCH OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM

  COLUMBIA AND CHALLENGER (STS-2—STS-9)

  1982–1983

  The maiden flight of the American Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-1) was followed by three research missions, each designed to evaluate the craft’s technology and performance. Columbia’s first operational mission, STS-5, carried a four-man crew. But despite the euphoria and confident predictions that surrounded the program, there were fears that the speed at which it was developing masked some important operational problems that had not been satisfactorily resolved.

  Six air-worthy shuttles had been built. The first one, Enterprise, was intended for atmospheric tests and not meant to fly in space. Initially four spaceworthy shuttles would be built: Columbia, Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis. Later Endeavor would be added to the fleet.

  STS-2: Damage to the O-rings

  After a successful liftoff it was discovered that one of Columbia’s three fuel cells, responsible for generating electricity, had failed. Fuel cells were being used for the first time in a Space Shuttle, and with only two working, the decision was made to return to Earth after only two days. It was called a successful failure. But after the jettisoned solid-fuel reusable boosters (SRBs) were fished from the sea 150 miles (241 km) northeast of Cape Canaveral and sent back to the Morton-Thiokol plant for refurbishment, it was discovered that one of the eight rubber O-rings on the right-side booster showed heat damage. The SRBs consisted of sections, with an O-ring between the joins. However, the rings should not have suffered such damage. First, they were protected by the sheer size of the SRBs (3.7 meters/12 ft. in diameter). Second, when firing, the SRBs burned from the inside out, meaning there was unburnt propellant between the rings and the heat. Third, the rings were protected by additional thermal insulation. Engineers had never seen this kind of damage before, either on STS-1 or in ground tests.

  In retrospect, what followed set the course for a subsequent disaster. An O-ring was deliberately damaged and tested, showing that even in its damaged form it could withstand several times the pressure in a burning SRB. This caused the engineers to conclude that the situation was safe, despite not getting to the bottom of why the O-ring failed in the first place. Somehow, many engineers and managers came to believe that the O-ring damage seen in STS-2 was the maximum that would ever be sustained. No one ever told the astronauts about this; they just believed that SRBs were big, dumb and rugged. But soon they would all hear about damaged O-rings.

  STS-3: Flaws in the Software

  Columbia flew in space again the following March, 1982. There was no O-ring damage. Astronauts were beginning to understand the Orbiter and its sometimes pesky computer system. Gordon Fullerton, who was the pilot, remembers:

  When we flew STS-3, we had a big book called Program Notes, which were known flaws in the software. There was one subsystem that when it was turned on, the displays said “Off,” because they’d gotten the polarity wrong and the logic, which they knew and they knew how to fix it, but we didn’t fix it. We left it as it was and flew it that way, knowing that “Off” meant “On” for this sub
system. The crew had to train and keep all this in mind, because to fix it means you’d have to revalidate the whole software load again, and there wasn’t time to do that. They had to call a halt and live with some real things you wouldn’t live with if you’d bought a new car.

  STS-4: Space Shuttle Goes Operational

  STS-4 was the first shuttle mission to be launched on time when it lifted off at the end of June 1982. On board, it carried many scientific payloads as well as a secret experiment for the US air force. Its two SRBs were lost when their parachutes failed to deploy, causing them to hit the water at high speed and sink.

  When Columbia touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California after the seven-day mission (for the first time on a concrete, as opposed to a saltpan, runway), President Ronald Reagan was there to greet it (his ranch was an hour’s helicopter flight away). After Reagan had greeted the returning astronauts, the head of NASA, Jim Beggs, introduced the president to the awaiting crowd quoting from Reagan’s inaugural speech: “great nations dreaming great dreams.”

  The president did not disappoint:

  The fourth landing of the Columbia is the historical equivalent to the driving of the golden spike which completed the first transcontinental railroad. It marks our entrance into a new era. The test flights are over. The groundwork has been laid. And now we will move forward to capitalize on the tremendous potential offered by the ultimate frontier of space. Beginning with the next flight, the Columbia and her sister ships will be fully operational, ready to provide economical and routine access to space for scientific exploration, commercial ventures and for tasks related to the national security.

  After just five hours of flight, four liftoffs, eight SRBs used (including two SRBs lost) and 12 SSMEs firing, Reagan declared the Space Shuttle “operational.” He also hinted that a commitment to a US space station was imminent. Sitting on top of a Boeing 747 carrier at the far end of the Edwards runway was the freshly built Challenger. Reagan continued:

  If you’ll all just look—well, I’m sure down in front maybe you can’t see—but way out there on the end of the runway, the Space Shuttle Challenger, affixed atop a 747, is about to start on the first leg of a journey that will eventually put it into space in November. It’s headed for Florida now, and I believe they’re ready to take off. Challenger, you are free to take off now.

  Moments later one doomed Space Shuttle flew overhead, leaving the other doomed spacecraft behind.

  Space Shuttle Challenger atop its carrier aircraft—a modified Boeing 747—flying over Johnson Space Center in April 1983.

  STS-7: The First American Woman in Space

  In June 1983 Space Shuttle Challenger carried the first American woman into space. Her name was Sally Ride. Rick Hauck was the mission’s pilot. He recalled:

  We’d have press conferences, and Sally would be the focus of 99 percent of the questions, but that was fine. I remember one press conference just before we flew. Someone from Time magazine or something said: “Sally, do you think you’ll cry when you’re in orbit?” And of course, she kind of gave him this “You gotta be kiddin’ me” kind of look and said: “Why doesn’t anyone ever ask Rick those questions?”

  STS-9: A Traumatic Landing

  On December 8, 1983, Columbia, at the end of STS-9 (also known as STS-41A), was heading for touchdown at Edwards. On approach, one of its hydraulic pumps sprung a leak and highly inflammable hydrazine sprayed into the aft engine compartment. The fire spread to a second hydraulic system. Both quickly failed, followed by the third. On the flight deck Commander John Young noticed that the controls had frozen. Fighting to regain some control, he yanked the joystick from side to side, pressed his feet on the rudder pedals and applied the speed brake, but all to no avail. Columbia twisted as it descended, striking the runway on its side. Its wing buckled, tiles fragmented and splayed in all directions, the payload bay doors were torn and fire engulfed the craft’s rear end.

  Spacelab 1 had been the ninth Space Shuttle flight and Columbia’s sixth. John Young was making his sixth spaceflight. There had been a one-month launch delay because of a problem with a nozzle on one of the SRBs. Spacelab 1’s six-member crew was a record at the time. Brewster Shaw was the rookie pilot and Owen Garriott returned to space for the first time since Skylab. Ulf Merbold and Byron Lichtenberg were the first two nonastronauts to fly. Merbold was German, chosen by the European Space Agency that built the Spacelab—a multisubject laboratory fitted inside Columbia’s cargo bay. They had been in space for ten days—the longest Space Shuttle mission to date. The crew worked 12-hour shifts in two teams, performing a variety of experiments spread over many disciplines, including life sciences, materials sciences and astronomy.

  Even before the traumatic landing, Columbia had experienced other serious problems. Four hours before reentry one of Columbia’s guidance computers crashed when a thruster was fired. Moments later a second computer (of five) crashed. John Young later said that his legs turned to jelly when he saw it. He delayed the landing, later saying in his matter-of-fact understatement: “Had we then activated the backup flight software, loss of vehicle and crew would have resulted.” Young and Shaw worked the checklists and successfully rebooted the errant computers. Postflight analysis showed a loose piece of solder on a CPU board was to blame. Columbia’s crew overcame these problems and also those encountered just before landing, and the Space Shuttle managed to touch down successfully. But John Young and his crew had been within seconds of death. The Space Shuttle was clearly not yet fully operational after all.

  TIMELINE

  1981 12 November Shuttle STS-2 is launched before landing back at Edwards Air Force Base, the first time a manned space vehicle has been reused

  1982 22 March Shuttle STS-3 is launched before landing back at White Sands Space Harbor

  27 June Shuttle STS-4 is launched, the final testing flight without a crew on board

  11 November Shuttle STS-5 is launched with a four-man crew, to deploy the first commercial satellite in space

  1983 18 June Shuttle STS-7 is launched, carrying the first American woman into space

  28 November Shuttle STS-9 is launched, carrying a six-man crew and Spacelab 1

  “You could see the Sun lighting the desert way up ahead”

  FIRST COMMERCIAL SHUTTLE FLIGHTS

  STS-41B, STS-41C, STS-41D AND STS-51A

  1984

  The year 1984 was significant in several respects for the Space Shuttle program. The five missions which took place that year included the deployment—and recovery—of satellites, the first space flight with two women among the crew and the first spacewalk by a female US astronaut. Yet despite successes, the continuing failure of the infamous O-ring seals on the giant booster rockets were a chilling portent of a shocking catastrophe still to come.

  The next Space Shuttle mission, STS-41B, took place in February 1984. It was Challenger’s fourth flight. It was Vance Brand’s third spaceflight and his second Space Shuttle flight, having been part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Mission as well as Shuttle mission STS-5 in November 1982. For him the Shuttle’s reentry was a special event. He recalls:

  In the early part of entry the vehicle had a large angle of attack as the Shuttle was pitched up roughly 40 degrees with respect to the velocity vector. There were very large windows, and you weren’t looking backward at a doughnut of fire as with Apollo. You were able to see the fire all around you, and you could look out the front.

  First the sky was black during entry, because you were on the dark side of the Earth, but as this ion sheet began to heat up, why, you saw a rust color outside, then that rust color turned a little yellowish. Eventually, around Mach 20 you could see white beams or shockwaves coming off the nose. If you had a mirror—and I did on one of my flights—you could look up through the top window, which was a little behind the crew’s station, and see a pattern and the fire going over the top of the vehicle, vortices and that sort of thing. So it was really awesome.

  At Mach 18,
or 18 times the speed of sound, I had a manual control task, which was to take over manual control from the autopilot and do a flight test maneuver. First I pushed down from 40 degrees to 35 degrees angle of attack, then up to 45 and then back. But when I did that, Joe Allen, who was sitting in the center seat as flight engineer, was watching what was coming off the nose, the shockwaves, and he said a shockwave came from the nose and it came up and attached to the window right in front of us. That was a little worrisome, because he knew it was hot.

  Eventually we were coming over the coast of the United States. I guess when we first landed at Edwards, it was dawn, but you could see the Sun lighting the desert way up ahead. When you get down to about Mach 3 to 2 you’re getting into thick atmosphere and it’s rumbling outside. You can hear it rumble, and you’re decelerating such that it’s pushing you into your seat straps. At Mach 1, you feel a lurch, and increase and decrease in deceleration and a decrease as you go through. Eventually you’re over the field. On STS-5 we went through a very thin cloud deck. I was on instruments flying and circled down and landed at Edwards. We had an intentional max braking test and completely ruined the brakes. I had to stomp on them as hard as I could during the rollout, which points out that we had a lot of flight testing on that mission. Even though it was billed as the first commercial flight, I think we had roughly 50 flight test objectives.

  We had a strange flight. We had a lot to do, the EVAs went just famously. It was the first time that people had flown with the Martin backpack Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU). It was supposed to be an early Buck Rogers flying belt, if you know what I mean, except it didn’t have the person zooming real fast. It was a huge device on your back that was very well designed [and] redundant so that it was very safe, but it moved [you] along at about one to two or three miles per hour. It used cold nitrogen gas coming out in spurts to thrust you around.